Biography - The Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Örebro

In 2004 the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard made their USA and UK debuts with performances at the London Proms and Lincoln Center, Mostly Mozart Festival.  The New York Times wrote: “It has been a longstanding complaint in the classical music world that as recordings and jet travel have shrunk the globe, an international sound has been fostered that has filtered out regional differences in timbre and interpretation ... And every now and then an orchestra comes along with a sound that is surprising and fresh. The Swedish Chamber Orchestra, led by its music director, Thomas Dausgaard, produced a distinctive and consistently vibrant sound ... Mr Dausgaard made the Beethoven into a high-energy dazzler, driven by sizzlingly brisk string playing, with biting brass figures giving the music a stormy edge and making the neglected Fourth Symphony seem nearly as titanic as the Third and the Fifth."

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra is working hard on the “surprising" and “fresh" sound accredited to them and is constantly looking at expanding its repertoire and opening new doors to further challenges.  Alongside their work with Thomas Dausgaard, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra regularly performs with early music specialist, Andrew Manze and conductor / composer H K Gruber. With this range of repertoire and styles the ensemble has established its own unique voice; as The Daily Telegraph commented  “Imagine the London Sinfonietta crossed with say the Orchestra of the Age of Englightenment and you might come up with something near the flexibility offered by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra."

With a commitment to contemporary music the orchestra regularly commissions and performs new works, both at home and abroad. The orchestra´s most recent commission is a new violin concerto by Magnus Lindberg which was given its European premiere by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and soloist Lisa Batisivili In October 2006. Reviewing the concert the Times wrote: “Poised between appearances at the Mainly Mozart Festivals in New York   and the Barbican (July 2007), Magnus Lindberg´s new Violin Concerto has just received standing ovations at its European premiere in the quiet Swedish town of Örebro. Why Örebro? Because that is the home of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra which co-commissioned the work, and played it, under the baton of their chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard, with the sharp-eyed intensity that has become their hallmark.“

Further upcoming world premiere performances include works by Swedish composers Daniel Börz, Karin Rehnqvist, Sven David Sandström and Christian Lindberg whilst Scandinavian premieres include works by Joe Cutler and Steven Mackey.

In March 2007 the Swedish Chamber Orchestra undertook a major tour of Europe which included performances at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle, Dresden Frauenkirche, Berlin Konzerthaus and Munich HerkulesSaal. In July 2007 the ensemble returned to London to perform at the Barbican´s Mostly Mozart Festival where they gave the UK premiere of Magnus Lindberg´s violin concerto together with Lisa Batiashvili.

Tour highlights in 2008 include a return visit to the States with concerts at New York´s Lincoln Center, Washington, Cleveland and the West Coast as well as an Autumn tour to Germany and Austria.  Meanwhile an array of international guest artists can be heard at home in Örebro with the ensemble throughout the 2007 / 08 season: guests include Nicolai Znaider, Renaud Capuçon, Håkan Hardenberger, Christian Lindberg, Jonathan Biss, Roy Goodman, Melyvn Tan and Paul McCreesh.